Kansas Senate Bills

Removing the eight-week return to work expectation from the definition of temporary unemployment, excluding payments under compliant employer-sponsored supplemental unemployment benefit plans from the definition of wages and removing the negative debt write-off and forgiveness mechanism that conditionally moved employers to rate groups N11 for three years and the related option to avoid a negative debt write-off through voluntary contributions.

Requiring the secretary of wildlife and parks to prepare and present any plans to reorganize the Kansas department of wildlife and parks to certain legislative committees and legislative approval of any such plans.

Requiring interest earnings of the parks fee fund to be transferred to such fund each month.

Providing countywide retailers' sales tax authority for Sheridan county for the purpose of financing the costs of constructing a jail and law enforcement center.

Increasing the annual limit on transfers from the lottery operating fund to the community crisis stabilization centers fund and the clubhouse model program fund.

Prohibiting the enforcement of federal immigration laws at polling places and locations designated for the canvassing, auditing and recounting of ballots.

Increasing the penalty for a second or subsequent adjudication of criminal use of weapons and modifying the penalties for the crime of criminal possession of a weapon by a convicted felon and the length of the ban on possessing a weapon for certain felons.

Prohibiting certain conduct in connection with the sale or resale of entertainment tickets and providing that violation of such requirements is a deceptive act or practice subject to penalties under the Kansas consumer protection act.

Enacting the Kansas healthcare professional employment mobility and patient access act to prohibit post-employment noncompete agreements.

Removing the criminal prohibition against firearm suppressors and firearm barrel length qualification requirement.

Requiring law enforcement agencies to adopt policies related to racial and other biased-based policing using technology and criminalizing violation of racial and other biased-based policing policies.

Creating the Kansas public employees retirement system cost-of-living adjustment commission, prescribing powers and duties of the commission and establishing procedures of the legislature relating to the annual cost-of-living adjustment rate recommended by the commission.

Enacting the Kansas age-appropriate design code act to require businesses to assess and mitigate risks of compulsive use in minors, enacting the Kansas stopping likeness abuse by nonconsensual digital replicas act to create a private right of action for the unauthorized digital replication and distribution of individuals' digital likenesses and enacting the Kansas saving human connection act to prohibit deceptive practices and ensure transparency in chatbot interactions.

Providing income tax credits for the retail sale of higher ethanol blends of fuel and expenditures for lockable gun and ammunition storage and discontinuing income tax credits for qualified alternative-fueled motor vehicle property or fueling station expenditures, agritourism liability insurance, assistive technology contributions, declared disaster capital investment, environmental compliance, owners promoting employment across Kansas and swine facility improvement.

Adding kratom to schedule I of the uniform controlled substances act and making conforming amendments to the definition of fentanyl-related controlled substance in the criminal code.

Enacting the motor vehicle right to repair act.

Expanding the definition of stalking to include more technology-based methods, requiring law enforcement agencies to adopt policies for making primary aggressor assessments when responding to domestic violence calls and requiring a prosecutor to affirm such assessment was completed, prohibiting public agencies from charging fees to victims of domestic violence for public records, allowing evidence of other domestic violence offenses to be admissible in a criminal action in which the defendant is accused of a domestic violence offense, adding certain contact to options for protection from abuse or stalking orders and allowing lifetime extensions of protection from abuse orders for victims of domestic battery.

Adding an element to the crime of sexual exploitation of a child that involves communication through electronic means and social media and providing criminal penalties therefor.

Requiring law enforcement agencies to share records with other law enforcement agencies about law enforcement officers related to criminal conduct or conduct giving rise to licensing or certification sanctions.

Enacting the Haylee Weissenbach protecting students act to establish the office of education inspector general, authorize the education inspector general to conduct audits, investigations and reviews of educational institutions, require reporting of suspected professional and criminal misconduct by school employees and agents, require certain individuals to register on an educator misconduct registry, require criminal history record checks of school employees and agents and provide for civil penalties for violations of this act.

Authorizing the imposition of a privilege tax by a municipality for the privilege of selling alcoholic beverages, food and food ingredients and tobacco within a community improvement district.

Requiring that each attendance center needs assessment be conducted by the local board of education and include input from board members, teachers, school site councils and school administrators and that board members receive certain state assessment data and identify allocations of money in the school district budget and budget summary.

Providing for a universal homestead exemption from ad valorem property taxation.

Enacting the Kansas property tax freedom act of 2026, providing for the phased elimination of property taxation and for revenue replacement grants to taxing subdivisions, establishing the Kansas fair share purchase surcharge and providing such revenue to taxing subdivisions, the state general fund and the new property tax freedom reserve fund and providing for freedom dividend rebates.

Creating a civil cause of action for violations of the constitution or laws of the United States by any person acting under the color of law.

Providing that under rental agreements governed by the residential landlord tenant act, a landlord is required to count certain income when considering a tenant or prospective tenant's qualifications for housing, providing for the sealing and expungement of court records in eviction actions related to such rental agreements and requiring mediation in such eviction cases unless the court finds that mediation would not aid the parties materially.

Moving marijuana from schedule I to schedule III of the uniform controlled substances act.

Requiring all legislators and the spouses of legislators who are in leadership positions to disclose the amount of any salary they receive paid by public funds, providing that such information be published on the legislative website and requiring such information be provided in statements of substantial interest.

Requiring landlords to return the security deposit and certain portions of rent payments that would be due when a dwelling unit is condemned due to action or inaction of the landlord.

Requiring school districts to demonstrate improvement in academic performance and be in compliance with all federal and state statutes and rules and regulations to achieve or maintain accreditation.

Authorizing comprehensive wellness programs for the Kansas highway patrol and Kansas bureau of investigation, permitting law enforcement personnel of other state agencies to participate in such programs and making annual transfers from the state highway fund and the state general fund for the purpose of financing the implementation of such programs.

Establishing the Kansas first responder scholarship program to provide postsecondary tuition assistance to certain first responders and dependents of such first responders.

Exempting certain property used for thrift store purposes by a church or religious organization from property tax.

Requiring hospitals use a surgical smoke plume evacuation system and adopt policies for the evacuation of surgical smoke during certain surgical procedures.

Enacting the Kansas short-term, limited duration insurance act; establishing definitions, disclosure, premiums, renewal and underwriting requirements relating thereto and authorizing the commissioner of insurance to adopt rules and regulations to implement and oversee the act.

Increasing the Kansas minimum wage to $16 an hour and making such minimum wage applicable to employers and employees covered under the provisions of the federal fair labor standards act.

Providing a sales tax exemption for sales of electricity delivered to residential premises for noncommercial use.

Requiring school districts to publicly list the names and email addresses of current school board members, authorizing local school board members to add new items to board meeting discussions, ask questions or engage in discussion with members of the public and access school property, authorizing members of the public to address school boards at board meetings and authorizing payment of annual dues to any not-for-profit organization that provides services to member school districts.

Enacting the safe and transparent arrest act to require all law enforcement agencies operating in Kansas to adopt a written policy regarding the use of facial coverings and prohibit law enforcement officers from wearing a facial covering that conceals or obscures their facial identity in the performance of their duties except as expressly authorized by law.

Repealing the prohibition on municipal establishment of guaranteed income programs.

Enacting the use of artificial intelligence in medical decisions transparency act and requiring that all medical necessity determinations be made by a competent licensed physician or healthcare professional.

Providing tenants with relief from use by landlords of old eviction or rental arrears records to deny housing.

Providing for the licensure of anesthesiologist assistants.

Requiring offenders convicted of distribution of a controlled substance causing great bodily harm or death to register under the Kansas offender registration act.

Authorizing municpal court services agencies to issue identification certificates to individuals under probation supervision.

Establishing the blind information access act to require the state library to provide on-demand information access services to persons who are blind, visually impaired, deafblind or print disabled.

Requiring state assessments performance levels and cut scores to be based on the 2024 performance levels and cut scores.

Establishing the Affordable Healthcare for Kansans program to expand medicaid eligibility.

Creating the Kansas law enforcement trust fund, establishing the purposes and requirements for such fund and making a transfer from the state general fund to such fund during FY 2027.

Restoring homestead renters as eligible to participate in certain homestead property tax refund claims.

Enhancing the criminal penalty for committing certain crimes in the context of transnational repression and requiring the development of transnational repression recognition and response training.

Enacting the Kansas critical infrastructure protection act to prohibit access to state critical infrastructure by countries of concern and the acquisition of critical software and other technology used in state infrastructure from countries of concern.

Authorizing the secretary of administration to grant a monetary award to a state employee who reports activity that constitutes fraud, waste or abuse of funds in any program administered by a state agency.

Enacting the clean air preservation act to prohibit solar radiation modification, geoengineering, weather modification, cloud seeding and other polluting atmospheric experiments or interventions and creating a crime for violation thereof.

Creating a domestic violence task force to study domestic violence across the state and make policy recommendations.

Creating an exception to certain mandatory reporting obligations for licensed social workers when working under the supervision of an attorney and permitting an attorney to require a licensed social worker to keep ethical obligations of attorney-client privilege while working under the supervision of such attorney.

Authorizing interior inspections of residential property without the consent of the occupant pursuant to an administrative warrant or if there is probable cause of imminent danger related to health and safety and allowing cities to abate certain interior code violations or delegate such authority to the county.

Requiring cause for evictions from residential property, modifying the petition and notice requirements for eviction cases and removing the requirement to post bond before the court may grant a continuance.

Increasing the criminal penalties for exposing another to a communicable disease and modifying the elements of such crime to include otherwise lawful or unlawful sexual intercourse or sodomy.

Authorizing a special education pilot program that provides provisional accreditation to a private entity for the purpose of operating a special education teacher training program, allowing such entity to collect data from such program and providing requirements for full accreditation of such program.